a few words I m really proud of what we ve achieved 1 Annual Report 2012

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3 anniversary 1 Annual Report th edition 2 a few words From our Chairman - Simon Kingsnorth We are very proud of the work we have done since we were founded in 1972 and this last year is no exception. I should perhaps begin by explaining why I am now the acting chairman. Very sadly and most unexpectedly, Andy Longhorn died in February 2012 aged only 39. He had served as a trustee for many years with Leeds Mind, and was its Treasurer and then its Chair. He was totally committed to the organisation and passionate about the people it supported through its staff and volunteers. He made a real mark on the organisation and we miss him a great deal. It s wonderful that his family continue to support Leeds Mind with fundraising events. The year to end March 2012 saw the completion of the restructure planned by Andy and the board of trustees back in This was in response to some very challenging financial cuts and required us to close some services and amalgamate others, reduce the size of the management team and move from 6 sets of premises to 3. Fortunately, we were assisted by the Transition Fund (delivered on behalf of the Government by the Big Lottery Fund) which enabled us to invest in our remaining sets of premises and in our staff and volunteer development and training. Our finances are stable and our reserves meet our requirements. Our strategy was to regroup around our core services whilst focusing on their quality and impact. We have retained the bulk of our work and, in collaboration with other voluntary sector partners (particularly Touchstone and Community Links) have won a major employment contract, now delivered through WorkPlace Leeds. Working in partnership has been a major part of our work and we are proud of the many strong links we have forged in Leeds. The trustees have recently undertaken a major strategic review for our future and have concluded that merging with another mental health charity would best serve our clients and deliver long term sustainability. In August 2012 we announced our intent to merge with Touchstone and we are now in the planning stages. No decisions are taken yet but this is a very exciting opportunity for both organisations, with our compatible values and complementary services. The new combined organisation, as yet unnamed, will remain a local Mind association and the proud achievements of the past forty years will not be lost. I would like to thank all the staff and volunteers for all their efforts, this year and over the last forty. I would particularly like to recognise the time and energy given by our trustees through another demanding year. From our Executive Director - Niccola Swan Our 39th year has been another extremely busy one for all of us. I m really proud of what we ve achieved after such a lot of change. Winning the employment tender was a major milestone and we are confident that all three service areas are now delivering really valuable holistic services to our clients, helping them live productively and independently. We can demonstrate quality and performance through our performance reporting, our achievement of level 2 of the Mind Quality Standards (of three levels) and our internal audits. Our recently installed new database (RecordBase, acquired from New Zealand company Wild Bamboo) will enable us to be sure of the difference our services make for all the people who use them, alongside our use of the Outcomes and Work Stars. I m really proud of what we ve achieved We do all this from premises which are properly presented and maintained, and shortly they will all have beautiful gardens too, designed and created with our clients and volunteers. We ve invested a lot this year in staff development and training, and everyone now has a performance plan. Our many volunteers also have induction, development and reviews. We re really proud that we can call on so many people working in such a committed way to support our clients.we have been fortunate to be the beneficiaries of many grants and fundraising efforts. I would particularly like to thank Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust for their grant to Inkwell, Mr HC O Nions for his very generous legacy. We are exceptionally grateful to the very many other individuals and organisations who have given their time and directed their fundraising activities towards us. We continue to investigate new sources of income generation and are making good progress here, especially at Inkwell. Our commissioners have continued their support and we very much value our positive relationships with Leeds City Council and NHS Leeds. A key priority for us continues to be working in partnership and collaboration and I remain truly grateful for the support we have received across the voluntary sector, especially via Volition, the mental health alliance in Leeds. Our present conversations with Touchstone around future closer collaboration leading to a merger are very exciting indeed. Together our strengths and ideas should mean that we can continue to be around for another forty years, delivering services people will need in the future and adapting well to the ever changing commissioning landscape and perhaps more cuts. Time to Change remains the key focus of our campaigning work and we are delighted to have such a positive relationship with the team in Leeds and our joint events have been very productive. On a national scale, our connection into Mind and all its campaigning resources remains a major strength and we hope to get even more involved in the future. Our communications have improved this year with the launch of a new website and various blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. We would now like to look in a more focused way on how we can support some of our clients to enter into the world of social media in a positive way, using the resources of the IT training suite at De Lacey House and the media suite at Inkwell. It has been a delight to be the licence holder for the Leeds Wellbeing Web and we are really pleased that we are shortly to be commissioned on behalf of the city to oversee the delivery of a new website for Information for Mental Health. All in all, it s been a hugely busy and demanding year and now we are 40. We ve achieved a lot this year and over the last 40 years, most importantly in supporting our clients in their individual recovery journeys. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped us and long may this continue.

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7 anniversary 9 Annual Report th edition 10 workplace leeds WorkPlace Leeds is the only specialist mental health employment provider in Leeds. We are in our first year of service as Workplace Leeds, having brought together two previous Leeds Mind employment services Dove and Working Minds. We are delighted to have the opportunity again to work with our partners from Touchstone and Community Links and their experience of working with BME communities and young people, respectively 91% of the clients we have supported have retained their employment at six months We have had a very exciting year with the successful commissioning by NHS Leeds and Adult Social Care contracts, the expansion of our staff team to 17 delivering specialist employment support and job retention services and the renovation of our De Lacey House office base. We are privileged to have worked with 270 clients since 1st October 2011, who have faced significant challenges in their recovery. Clients have been supported into a range of options on their journey towards employment including training, voluntary work and then into paid employment. The range of jobs clients have gained include Web Development, Finance Officer, Outreach Worker, Catering Assistant, Engineer, Security Officer, Retail Assistant and many more. Our Job Retention service has gone from strength to strength, 91% of the clients we have supported have retained their employment at six months. Feedback from these clients and their employers has been overwhelmingly positive in key areas: liaison and support, mental health awareness training and expertise and the Being Well at Work course. Looking forward to another year we are keen to expand our Job Retention provision, build on our success in supporting clients, provide appropriate and influential advice and guidance to all our stakeholders and most importantly ensure we meet the needs of the clients that come into contact with us. We recognise the service is only as good as the client s experience of it and opposite are some of their stories. Jackie - a Job Retention Client I work for Royal Mail on a permanent basis and work 40 hours per week. I started having problems when I couldn t work the hours they wanted me to because of childcare issues. I started to suffer with panic attacks the 1st one resulting in admission to hospital. I started attending CBT and was then referred to WorkPlace Leeds. The sessions have helped no end. To be able to talk to someone who s not connected to work in any way. Someone who s there to help and to listen. To tell you that you re not going mad and that it s quite normal to feel like this and it s normal to not be able to stop crying under the circumstances. I have found the service invaluable. Jessica - Employment Support Client After a period of depression, later diagnosed as dysthimia, I attempted suicide in November 2011 by taking an overdose of my medication. I was admitted into hospital and began a course of treatment to try and make me feel better. It was difficult to understand why I felt so bad and hopeless but things had just got too much for me to cope with. I think I was so desperate to be a good mum for my daughter, who is three years old, that I completely lost sight of my own needs, I was also having lots of arguments with my mum and other family members and also felt weighed down by debts I couldn t pay off. My world became very small. I didn t have any outside interests or friendships. I hadn t worked or trained since leaving school and I had lost touch with loads of people. I felt so isolated and my confidence and self-esteem were very low. I also felt that people were judging me for being a young single parent. Things were really bad. All of this contributed to me becoming unwell and I didn t know where or how to begin making things better. My mental health nurse referred me to WorkPlace Leeds and John in December 2011 and it was good to meet someone who understood my problems and could offer practical help as well as emotional support. Apart from anything else it was so nice to have a positive conversation about the future and some time and space to think about what I wanted to do in the future. Over the next few weeks, John and I talked about my strengths and skills and the best places for me get some work experience and access training. John also identified a place to get some advice about managing my debts and I started to believe that my ambition to become a support worker with young people or young parents could actually happen. Peter I.T client Peter was working full-time in the printing industry and engaged to be married. He was skilled in a variety of areas and had managerial responsibilities. However, the printing industry was becoming increasingly competitive and Peter would often be phoned up in the early hours of the morning to be consulted about a job. Profit margins were tight and mistakes could end up putting a company out of business. After a while, Peter started developing problems sleeping and sought advice from a local doctor. He was prescribed diazepam, but a couple of days after starting his medication he had a severe psychotic attack whilst taking a bath. He was admitted to hospital and his medication changed, but four weeks later he felt something crack inside his head and he was in agonising pain. The next few years saw him go on and off increasing doses of various medication. He was subjected to ECT, which led to poor concentration and memory loss. He was constantly advised that his illness needed to become worse, before he could be fully cured. The effects of going off and on medication and withdrawal effects that resulted meant that he could not maintain his job and he eventually had to pay 40,000 for private medical treatment. Peter has now started his recovery and been off medication for almost 6 months. He began a course with WorkPlace Leeds IT service. He had used computers frequently within his printing jobs and his knowledge in some areas is brilliant, in others it was practically non-existent. Peter quickly worked through our basic Tracks course and moved onto the more challenging ECDL, passing all his exams first time. Peter has the ability to look at publications & instantly spot mistakes and find ways of improving its layout. It is possible that this skill could be used in future employment.

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9 Leeds Mind Head Office Clarence House 11 Clarence Road Horsforth, Leeds LS18 4LB T: F: E: W: MindinfoLine Registered Charity Number Registered in England Number